The present disclosure relates to electronic device holders, and in particular to electronic device holders that can be mounted to a vehicle, such as an aircraft.
Electronic devices, such as laptop computers, tablet computers, and the like, can be used to interact with programs and/or data stored on the device or accessed via a network, such as a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (e.g., the Internet). Such devices are becoming increasingly portable through increasing processing power as well as decreasing size and weight. These devices often include a touch-sensitive display integrated with the device. The touch-sensitive display both outputs visual data at the display and receives user input in the form of gestures (e.g., tap gestures, sliding gestures, pinch gestures, or other gestures). The dual use of touch-sensitive displays (i.e., displaying visual data and receiving input commands) can help to further decrease the size, weight, and usability of the devices by decreasing the need for additional input and/or output components (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, external display, etc.)
The increased portability of electronic devices, such as tablet computers, has led to a more widespread and varied use of the devices. In turn, the widespread use has led to the development of a variety of mounting structures and device holders. For instance, various mounting structures have been developed to mount electronic devices on a desk, within vehicles such as cars, or to other structures and/or areas. However, in many cases, such mounting structures and/or holders are formed of plastic or other materials that engage the device via an interference fit (e.g., a snap-in fit). Such materials and designs may not be adapted to withstand environments in which the mounting structure is subjected to frequent use and/or vibrational loads, thereby decreasing usability of the mounting structure in fields such as avionics. Moreover, typical mounting structures may not be adaptable to be mounted in a variety of applications, such as between different types and/or variations of vehicles.